Women pilots who delivered Spitfires to the front line during World War Two are to get a medal.

Gordon Brown said yesterday: "It is right we have recognition for those women who did so much."

Margaret Frost, 87, spent three years in the Air Transport Auxiliary and is one of the 15 surviving "Spitfire Girls".

At home in Lampeter, mid Wales yesterday she said: "I flew my first Spitfire in 1944 and it was a beautiful airplane. So much was automatic it was a great joy.

"We flew alone and had lots to think about because we didn't use radio - we were flying with a map in all sorts of weather. I miss seeing the countryside from the air because it was lovely."

The ATA was set up in 1938 and by the end of the war had 650 pilots from 22 countries. It had a remarkable record with very few of its aircraft lost or damaged. But 173 pilots and eight engineers died including pioneer Amy Johnson.

Also getting the medal will be ground instructors, ground engineers, crash rescue teams, nurses and doctors, administration staff and air cadets.